One Page Business or Department Plan®

I find that most people don’t plan effectively for one of two reasons other than that they feel the task is like having a root canal without the pain killer.

They don’t know how to plan.

They are scared of what it costs to write a business plan.

I use the One Page Business Plan® to help my clients learn how to plan and through that they see it costs them far more to not plan than to write and implement one effectively.

Had I been aware of the One Page Plan concept as an oilfield consultant I guarantee you this – every well I ever started would have had a One Page Plan written for it – because it would tell me and the people I was working for and with exactly what we agreed was going to happen, why, when, and at what cost – and it would have been signed off on as an agreement that we all shared the same goals and agreed on how we’d get there.

It’s for those same reasons I will suggest to clients that each manager, especially the new managers and/or the ones in a bit of a spot, needs a plan. And that plan is discussed with and agreed to by their manager. Why? It delivers on all of the following points:

Most peoples’ (managers are people, too) top priority is wanting to know what’s expected of them.

Goals are just that. Goals. Inanimate. What get’s people moving towards goals are knowing the next steps and moving in that direction.

Everyone has ideas and they want to be heard as well.

Your vision for your business or their department is not their vision – I guarantee this. But you can come to an agreement that works.

People don’t like surprises – so why not eliminate them with a system that enhances the annual review instead of making it a resentful event.

Jim Horan, creator of the One Page Business Plan®, taught me that there are five questions a well written plan must answer:

There are five questions every plan must answer:

What are we building?

Why are we building it?

How do we measure success?

How are we going to build this monster?

What’s the work to be done?

Can a One Page Business Plan® be effective in a large organization? Written and implemented properly the One Page Plan is even more effective than anything else companies can produce. Large corporations, such as Oracle, Ford, and Kaiser use them.

When you write a series of One Page Plans® within an organization it’s easy to monitor their implementation through a web-based system. So if you still want to be chained to a 78 page plan but don’t want it to sit on the shelf gathering dust, all you need are 78 plan writers. Each department writes one. Talk about getting people involved, talking, thinking and feeling more like they are on solid ground! But if you only have two departments, you only need three plans- the master plan, and one each for the departments written such that they support the master plan.

The real power of a One Page Business Plan lies here:

It distills everyone’s’ thoughts down to the essentials.

It allows you to think in different directions and yet be anchored to the core of your business.

It makes the decision process easier… period. You know what you want and you know what you have to do to go get it. There is NO FLUFF!

Management by fact is no longer a slogan – it is reality.

Does not require pain killer.

Oh, yeah, you do have to actually:

Look at your business.

Take action – implement your plan.

“Since working with Bart Gragg, Decision Financial Services has been more focused, created clearer relationships with our clientele, and moved forward at such a quick pace it surprised us when we reviewed the numbers. We are expanding! Thanks Bart!” – Monika Hengesbach, President, Decision Financial Services, Inc.

If you want more information on The One Page Plan® or a guided tour of the web-based performance management system, call me at 925.757.7473 or email me here. – It won’t cost you anything to talk so at least that will be painless!

Bart Gragg
Blue Collar University® – a Different Kind of Toolbox for a Different Kind of Manager.

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